


Fishing for Compliments

by Metal_Chocobo



Series: Need a Hook [3]
Category: Women's Hockey RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 11:49:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4478219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Chocobo/pseuds/Metal_Chocobo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Julie was the first to admit that no matter what she was wearing Caro was always stunning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fishing for Compliments

“Are you ready to go yet?” Caro asked. While she couldn’t see it, Julie knew her girlfriend was checking her watch. “Shannon wants us there in twenty minutes.”

“I know, I know,” Julie said. She looked over her shoes again and grabbed the pair of heels that best matched her dress. They went into her purse. “Let me grab my coat and we can go.”

“Finally.”

Upon exiting her bedroom Julie finally got a look at Caro. She froze, which caused the Canadian to hold her hands up in exasperation.

“Do you honestly think that’s appropriate for a university fundraiser?” Julie asked, already knowing the answer. Of course she did. Caro wouldn’t be wearing it if she didn’t think it appropriate. “Shannon’s going to rip us both new ones if you show up looking like that.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Caro asked defensively.

She brushed a hand down the front of her sandstone colored cable knit sweater. Julie shook her head as she stared at the recently ironed black jeans carefully tucked into Caro’s steel toed boots; her policeman’s boots. She got them right after graduating from the Montreal police academy seven years ago. She kept them nicely polished, but they weren’t appropriate for tonight’s event. Unless she was an officer in uniform they were the last thing Caro ought to be wearing to a black tie fundraiser.

“Caro, Mills said to dress up. This is not dressing up,” Julie said, gesturing wildly. “What did you wear last year? Surely that’ll do again.”

“I didn’t go last year. The fundraiser occurred after the season resumed and we were on the road. Mills was unhappy about this because she was certain the women’s hockey program did not receive its fair share of the proceeds as we were not there to garner attention.”

“She’s gonna be unhappy if you’re not dressed to impress.” Julie shook her head at Caro’s outfit. “Don’t you have a tux or something?”

“No.”

“There’s gotta be something better than a sweater and jeans in your closet. Come on.”

Julie grabbed Caro by the hand and led her out of her apartment. The Canadian followed easily enough, but she was less happy returning to her own apartment on the floor below. Julie hoped her lack of resistance continued. They wouldn’t make it to the fundraiser if Caro fought her tooth and claw. Then both of their jobs would be in jeopardy.

“Where are your suits?” Julie asked upon opening Caro’s closet. The rack was oddly empty, devoid of all her professional clothing. “I know you’ve got at least half a dozen of them.”

“Cleaners. Thought it prudent to get the coffee stains out of them.”

“Blast.”

Julie bit her lip, scanning the closet for something that could work for the occasion. Neither woman particularly liked dressing up, function and comfort was far more important, but Julie couldn’t believe Caro didn’t have one nice outfit on hand for emergencies. She always made sure to have a little black dress that fit just in case something, like a black tie work fundraiser, came up. Well, this certainly explained why they hadn’t gone out for a fancy dinner yet; Caro wouldn’t pass the dress code.

Julie was just shutting the closet door when something red caught her eye. She paused, reopened the door, reached to the far back, and retrieved a sleeveless, low cut full-length red dress. Julie grinned. This was perfect and, from the feel of things, it was of an even nicer quality than her own dress. She didn’t know why Caro didn’t put it on in the first place. When she turned to show the dress to her girlfriend she noticed Caro’s face had gone ashen.

“What’s wrong? I didn’t just pull out an ex’s dress, did I?” Julie asked.

“No, my sister insisted I buy it this spring,” Caro said, swallowing thickly.

“Then it’s perfect. Caro, why don’t you put it on?”

Caro mumbled something in French as she looked down at the hem of her sweater. Julie waited for a moment, but when it appeared the Canadian wasn’t going to do anything else she lowered the dress. She set it on a chair then walked over to her girlfriend. Julie tilted her head to the side trying to meet Caro’s eyes, but when that didn’t work she reached up and tilted Caro’s chin until they made contact.

“Caro?”

“I am not petite enough for that sort of dress. I am not slim, nor small, or lithe and graceful,” Caro said.

“I have seen you skate. You are incredibly graceful,” Julie argued. Caro shook her head.

“I am big. I am tall, strong, powerful, and have massive muscles built from years of training and hard work. I like that and I love who I am, but I don’t fit that dress,” Caro said. She motioned toward the dress. “That is meant for a slim girl, a girly girl. That dress does not fit me.”

“It fit you when you tried it on. I’m sure you look fantastic in it. Nadine wouldn’t have insisted you buy it otherwise.”

“Julie, if I wear a dress to the fundraiser they will laugh at me,” Caro cried. “I don’t wish to be ridiculed and that will happen if I go in that dress.”

“How do—”

“Because it’s already happened, Julie,” Caro snapped. “When we were in Canton playing St. Lawrence I was out with some of the team when a little girl asked her mom why that man was wearing a dress. Her mom told her to advert her eyes. I was the man.”

“Caro,” Julie whispered. She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and pulled her into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

“I am so sick and tired of people, especially men, making crass comments like that. It’s easier to just not wear dresses. I’m not pretty like you are.”

“I’m not—” Julie cut herself off before she spat out the societal expected self-putdown. She was pretty and Caro was gorgeous, in part because she defied the standard expectations of female beauty. It was her job to convince her of that. “Do you like wearing dresses?”

“No, didn’t you hear me explain?”

“No, forget about other people. Do you like wearing dresses, Caro? Ignoring everyone and everything else, how do you feel when you’re in a dress?”

“I…” Caro trailed off. Julie smiled at her and waited. This was more important than getting in trouble with their boss. “I feel different. When it’s the right dress I feel special. I like dancing in them, the way the fabric billows out when I twirl or spin, it’s almost magical.”

“Well then, that settles it,” Julie said. She stood up on her toes to kiss Caro. Then she pulled away and picked up the red dress. “Put it on. I promise if anyone is so uncouth as to laugh I will make them regret it.”

Julie stepped out of the bedroom to let Caro change in private. They were used to changing in front of each other, or even just hanging out in various states of undress, but this was different. This was sensitive for Caro. Julie had a feeling that her girlfriend didn’t want her to see if she struggled changing into the finery. If Caro wanted her she knew Julie was waiting just outside.

When Caro finally emerged Julie forgot to breathe and just stared. Clearly uncomfortable under such scrutiny Caro fidgeted with her hair, flipping it all over a shoulder. Eventually she asked Julie how she looked.

“I have never seen a woman fill out a dress better than you do right now,” Julie declared after a long pause. “If it wouldn’t put our jobs in jeopardy I’d suggest we blow off the fundraiser in favor of something more worthy of that dress.”

“Stop,” Caro laughed, blushing. Julie grinned. She would do no such thing.

“You are smoking hot. You’re so stunning no one will be able to keep their eyes off you. I mean that, Caro, no one would dream of making fun of you.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Julie nodded. She held out a hand, which Caro gladly accepted.

They made excellent time to campus. Duluth had recently plowed the streets and since the first snowfall regularly salted them to cut down the accidents. They reached their boss, who was impatiently waiting outside for them just as the sun set. That didn’t worry Julie. Shannon was always cranky about something and sunset occurred absurdly early during Minnesota winters, especially in January.

“You’re late,” Shannon snapped.

Julie could have pointed out that the actual fundraiser didn’t start for a little while yet and they were just late for Shannon’s lecture. However, she didn’t because that would be pointlessly baiting her boss, which was always a bad idea. Instead she decided to go the more gracefully route and apologize.

“Sorry,” Julie said, walking around the outside of her car to help Caro out. “It took us a little longer getting ready than expected.”

“That was my fault,” Caro added.

Shannon didn’t acknowledge their apologies, instead marching straight into the building. The assistant coaches glanced at each other then followed her. It was too cold to hang around outside. Once inside Shannon launched into a lecture about punctuality as the women took off their coats. However, her rant trailed off when she saw Caro sans coat. Julie smirked. She expected Caro would have that effect on a lot of people this evening.

“Is something the matter, Mills?” Julie asked innocently. “We tried our hardest to look our best for this fundraiser.”

“You clean up better than expected, Caro,” Shannon gruffly admitted. She cleared her throat, still staring at the Canadian, and then shook her head. “However, next time be more efficient.”

While their boss groused at them a little more, she no longer seemed interested in lecturing them. Instead she soon dismissed them to “go mingle” with the early arrivals. Julie was stunned at this unexpected development, but she and Caro left before Shannon could change her mind. As they walked to the main event Julie bumped her shoulder into Caro’s and grinned at the taller woman.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mills like that before,” Julie said. “You had her almost speechless.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Caro protested. “She simply realized there were more important things to do right now.”

“Than lecture us? Yeah right,” Julie snickered. “You bowled her over with your beauty.”

“Julie.”

“I mean it! Once she got a good look she couldn’t take her eyes off you. Face it, Caro, you’re absurdly pretty.” Caro smiled as Julie intertwined their fingers. What Julie would really like to do was kiss her, but they were in public and there wasn’t time to redo their lipstick. “I’m certain everyone will love you, but good or bad we’ll do anything you want after this. Promise.”

“Thank you,” Caro laughed, squeezing Julie’s hand as they entered the fundraiser. “You always know the perfect thing to say.”

Things went even better than Julie expected. Everyone was enamored with Caro, either because of the figure she cut in that dress or due to the two Olympic gold medals around her neck. Julie garnered some attention thanks to her silver and bronze, but it was nothing in comparison. She didn’t mind the lack of attention though; she could more easily navigate the fundraiser and talk with potential donors about the women’s hockey team. By the end of the night Julie didn’t know how many photos she and Caro had posed for, but it was a lot. They must have made a decent impression because Shannon was in a good mood, complimenting them both. More importantly a small smile graced Caro’s face. It had been a good experience for her.

“Okay,” Julie said once they were ensconced in her car. She hit her wheel a couple times bouncing in her seat. “We are dressed to take the town by storm and aren’t due back at work for a few days yet. What do you want to do? Because I believe I promised you anything your heart desires.”

“You sure?” Caro laughed.

“A promise is a promise,” Julie eloquently pointed out. “For you I’m game for anything.”

“Well… there is one thing I would like to do with you.”

Julie felt hoodwinked to find herself sitting on a cold wooden bench in an ice fishing shack an hour later. It shouldn’t have been a surprise considering she let Caro choose their activity. Of course her girlfriend wasn’t interested in going out someplace fancy while they were dolled up. She preferred comfortable and casual. Julie did too most of the time, but it just seemed like a waste to go ice fishing when they were dressed for something special. Especially when they first had to go home and change to avoid freezing.

Caro eased her large frame onto the bench next to Julie. She had reopened the hole in the ice. Julie jammed her mitten-covered hands in her armpits attempting to warm them as her girlfriend took off her gloves to bait a hook. When she noticed Julie observing her Caro grinned.

“I’m glad you came out with me,” Caro said. “I didn’t think I would get another chance to go ice fishing before the hockey season restarted.”

“Happy to make you happy,” Julie tersely replied. They were sort of indoors and she could see her breath. While she was used to being in cold rinks, constant action typically kept her warm. Caro expected them to sit quietly for hours. She’d freeze.

“Still think I look pretty even if I’m not in that red dress?” Caro asked, tossing her line into the hole.

“I can’t believe you’re fishing for compliments! You got a boatload of them at the fundraiser. I don’t think a single person didn’t gush about how fantastic you looked.”

“Yes, but your opinion is the only one I care about.”

“Caro, I don’t care what you’re wearing, you always look pretty to me,” Julie sighed, pressing her face into Caro’s plaid flannel covered shoulder. “And as magnificent as you looked earlier in your dress, the fact you’re at ease in your flannel gives you a different sort of beauty.”

“You carry the same sort of beauty too,” Caro replied. She reached up and petted Julie’s hair. They stayed in that position until Julie started shivering. Caro’s arm snaked down to her waist as the Canadian set down her fishing rod. She fished out a thermos and handed it to Julie. “I brought some coffee along to keep us warm.”

“Thanks,” Julie said, gladly accepting the thermos. She unscrewed the cap and took a swing of the hot liquid. Suddenly everything seemed much more tolerable about this situation to her.

“We good to fish now?” Caro asked, picking up her pole.

“Just about.” Julie stood up, shuffled over a little, then sat down on the bench between her girlfriend’s legs. Automatically Caro’s arms wrapped around her as Julie settled against her chest. In this much more comfortable position Julie thought she’d be warm enough to handle a few hours of ice fishing. “Okay. Now I’m good.”

“Perfect.” Caro leaned in and kissed Julie’s neck. In that moment Julie realized Caro was right. Everything was perfect.


End file.
